AUGUST: This Month in Black History

August 1: This Day in Black History

FEATURED: Ron Brown 1619:The first black Americans landed at Jamestown, Virginia. 1834:Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire – Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into effect. 1867:Blacks voted for the first time in a US state election in the South (Tennessee). 1887:S.C. congressman Joseph Rainey passed away. He was 55 years old. 1895:Benjamin E. Mays, SC, black educator (Morehouse, Howard University) was born. 1936:Benjamin E. Mays named president of Morehouse College. 1941:U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown was born. He died in a plane crash in 1996. He was 54. 1942:R&B and Soul Singer Jean Wells was born. 1953:Happy Birthday to Robert Cray who turns 61 today. 1960:Happy Birthday to rapper Professor Griff who turns 54 today. 1960:Happy Birthday to rapper, author & producer Chuck D who turns 54 today. 1963:Happy Birthday to musician, rapper, chef, actor, and record producer Coolio who turns 51 today. 1968:Happy Birthday to NBA player Stacey ‘Plastic Man’ Augmon who turns 46 today. 1968:Happy Birthday to model, actress, author Roshumba Williams who turns 46 today. 1973:Happy Birthday to actress Tempestt Bledsoe who turns 41 today. 1974:Happy Birthday to rapper Rampage who turns 40 today. 1977:Happy Birthday to Ghanaian film and television performer Van Vicker who turns 37 today. 1977:Happy Birthday to actor Chris Williams who turns 37 today. 1978:Happy Birthday to Edgerrin James who turns 36 today. 1983:Happy Birthday to actor, producer, songwriter and singer Leon Thomas III who turns 21 today. 1986:Happy Birthday to actor Elijah Kelley who turns 28 today. 1996:Happy Birthday to Cymphonique Miller who turns 18 today. 1998:Happy Birthday to actor Khamani Griffin who turns 16 today. 2001:Korey Stringer died from complications brought on by heat stroke during the Vikings’ training camp in Mankato, Minnesota. He was 27 years old. 2012:DeAndre McCullough, a Baltimore drug dealer since age 15 whose experiences inspired writer David Simon and Edward Burns to feature him in the book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood , which later became an Emmy-winning miniseries on HBO. He was found dead this day, aged 35. 2013:Georgia State representative Quincy Murphy died of cancer. He was 60 years old.